(I received this by email - will park it on this new thread, and move it later)

I've been researching a bit and see that there has been and continues to be rapid development back in my hometown. It seems that there is much more happening there than any other city in North America at this moment.

Here's a list that was written in our local newspaper in 2014, and it's amazing to see that almost all of the projects have either begun construction or have been completed already. Just this week, an 80-storey residential building got approved! That might finally be overkill.

Artist rendering of the podium entry for the proposed Yorkton Towers that will be built North of 105th Avenue between 97th Street and 98th Street in Edmonton's Chinatown.Supplied / art

A 100-unit condo building on the northeast corner of Bellamy Hill Road and 99th Avenue is set to rise on the hill overlooking the river valley.Supplied/Dub Architects

The historic Lodge Hotel and Brighton Block on Jasper Avenue between 97th Street and 96th Street will be turned into the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museums of Alberta in a $20-million redevelopment.Supplied/Allan Partridge, Group 2 Architects / Allan Partridge, Group 2 Archt

An expansion of Norquest College at 10215 108th St. includes renovations to the main campus building and an adjoining four-storey building with a new library, aboriginal ceremonial room, classrooms and labs.Supplied, Dialog Design

The Corners, 28-storey residential tower on the northeast corner of 95th Street and Jasper Avenue, will have about 285 units.Supplied / Supplied

By 2020, the historic Rossdale power plant could have found new life: Suggestions include a market, arts spaces, an aboriginal cultural centre, restaurants, homes and a brew pub. The land is being eyed for an interpretive plaza.Ed Kaiser / Edmonton Journal

The northeast corner of 96th Street and Jasper Avenue will feature a 13-storey Hyatt Hotel with shops and restaurants on the main floor.Rick MacWilliam

MacEwan University’s Centre for Arts and Communications on 104th Avenue at 112th Street will be a five-storey building for visual and performing arts programs and provide modern teaching space.Supplied

The Ultima is a 32-storey condo with 199 units at 10236 103rd Street.Supplied, Westrich Pacific

The northwest corner of 102nd Avenue and 104th Street will be turned into a 142-unit, 28-storey highrise condo called the Fox in the first phase of development. Fox Two, a 169-unit, 33-storey condo tower, will be built in the second phase.Supplied, Icon

The Encore, a glass-walled 40-storey condo building on a former parking lot on the southwest corner of 103rd Street and 102nd Avenue, is designed to be Edmonton’s tallest residential tower.Supplied, Westrich Pacific

The Kelly-Ramsey 29-storey office tower is going up at 10175 101st St. The developer received a $1.7-million city heritage grant to incorporate the four-storey facades of two historic buildings that were on the property.Supplied

A new surface Churchill Square station will allow LRT riders to transfer between the Valley Line and the Metro or Capital lines.Supplied

The 18,641-seat Rogers Place, on the north side of 104th Avenue at 103rd Street, will be the Oilers’ new home and site of concerts and shows as of 2016.Supplied

Getting close to the North Saskatchewan River could be much easier with an elevator or funicular linking downtown and the valley on the slope behind the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.Supplied

This 27-storey structure at 10330 101st St. will have 18 floors leased to the City of Edmonton for its downtown staff.Supplied

Edmonton engineering and architectural consulting firm Stantec will move its headquarters to the northwest corner of 103rd Avenue and 102nd Street, in new a 62-storey complex.Supplied

The parking lot north of Boston Pizza at 10160-10168 106th St. will become a 36-storey condo tower containing 240 luxury units called Jasper House.Supplied

This upscale hotel, at the southeast corner of 104th Avenue and 102nd Street, is aimed at fans attending hockey games and concerts at the arena. It will have condos on upper floors.Supplied

A 10-storey rental building in envisioned where the Mayfair Hotel once stood at 10803 Jasper Ave., next to the existing Mayfair Village.Supplied

Artists will be able to live and work in 64 studios in this building, the Artists Quarters, on the northwest corner of 102A Avenue and 96th Street, which will also feature other housing, performance studios and offices for arts groups.Supplied / Supplied

A metre-deep canal using water pumped up from the North Saskatchewan would flow below Rossdale Road, past Telus Field and back into the river. It would be an all-seasons gathering place, with shops, restaurants, homes and skating.Supplied

The Edmontonian, a 276-metre office-condo-hotel at 10525 101st St. will be a staggering 71 storeys, or 276 metres high.Supplied / supplied

Over the past several months, we’ve been hearing announcement after announcement for new office, residential and government developments.

Indeed, predictions indicate we could see up to $4.8 billion worth of construction in the city centre by 2020.

It all amounts to an unprecedented amount of construction for Edmonton, says Cory Wosnack, office leasing principal with Avison Young. “When you have billions of dollars of construction value being brought on stream within a five-year period, that’s unheard of, not just in Canada, but in North America,” he says. “Most people … haven’t grasped the significance of it.”

Several projects we know for sure are going ahead: The LRT expansion, the new arena district, the Royal Alberta Museum, expansions at MacEwan University and Norquest College, and various other condo and office towers.

Some other projects remain a bit more unclear: The redevelopment of Rossdale, the major Galleria arts complex, a student residence complex near MacEwan University, and several condo and office towers — including one that promises to be 71 storeys tall.

But if they all do go ahead, what would downtown look like by 2020?

Here is a google map that shows all of the planned and potentional developments that are going to be taking place in the downtown core. Mobile users please click here: http://edmjr.nl/ZkpwUL

The writer, Gordon Kent, forgot to mention the re-skinning and renovation of the downtown library. Apparently it is waiting for funds to begin. Some of these condo projects will not go ahead I'm guessing. Who knows, but there has to be buyers for them, and there are lots of buildings planned. It doesn't seem likely that everything will be done, at least right away. Also, I believe that there is thinking for a downtown park, but that seems to be in the gleam of the eyes of some city councilors. I haven't seen any plans at all. This all makes me wonder - how is the traffic going to flow in these areas? Aren't bottle necks forming for cars to trying to access this area as we speak? I had a letter to the editor published in the Edmonton Journal some years ago about this, saying we needed to twin the High Level, but we have not heard a peep from any source at city hall or in the media - nothing.

Both Brian and Dazzer are correct. This article doesn't mention anything going on in the areas surrounding downtown as well. There are a number of projects going on in Oliver and the stadium area. There is also the municipal airport redevelopment. I don't think we will have to worry much about traffic Dazzer.